FM 1960 median project nearly finished

Two years of construction winding down as state expects completion this summer

By Bryan Kirk

Published 11:24 am, Thursday, July 30, 2015

Crews with the Texas Department of Transportation are expected to wrap up construction of medians along FM 1960 between FM 249 and U.S. 290 by the end of this summer.

Since summer 2013, orange barrels and construction workers have been a fixture on FM 1960 as crews constructed raised medians and center turn lanes, as part of the state transportation department's Access Management Study completed in 2010.

"The continuous center two way turn lanes were replaced with a center median on FM 1960 from Interstate 10 to U.S. 290, and then on FM 1960 north of US 290 to Texas 249," said Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Karen Othon.

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Changing lanes

The Texas Department of Transportation is nearing completion on an Access Management Project, which is designed to relieve traffic congestion and enhance safety on Texas 6 and FM 1960 between Interstate 10 and Texas 249. The project is expected to be completed by late summer.

The $27.5 million project, referred to as the SH6/FM1960 Access Management Project, had been on the TxDOT radar since 2009.

The study, which was initiated by the Houston-Galveston Area Council, was completed in 2010, and once it was completed, TxDOT adopted the raised medians recommendation and began the environmental and preliminary engineering studies needed to advance the project.

The center turn lanes commonly referred to as "suicide lanes," which contributed to the high rate of vehicle accidents between 2008 and 2011, were the greatest causes of concern for TxDOT officials.

As a result, TxDOT adopted the raised median concept, which is similar to those installed years earlier on FM 1960 west, between Texas 249 and Interstate 45.

"With the implementation of a raised median, conflict points have been reduced and we have better planned how vehicles move through the Texas 6 and the FM 529 corridors," Othon said.

"Safety is our top priority and by reducing the potential conflict points, crashes are anticipated to be reduced."

However, as with any road project, there were challenges.

Much of that had to do with the center barrier alignment, particularly near I-10, and in the Windfern area of FM 1960, which was corrected and is now nearly completed.

Other difficulties involved the extreme safety measures that needed to be taken on the busy road.

"As with any project, roadway construction around live traffic is a challenge, especially during the nighttime closures," Othon said.

"Safety of our workers, the contractor and the traveling public is a priority."

In the early stages of the project, TxDOT hosted several public meetings in the area, which attracted local community organizations, like the Copperfield Coalition, which spoke in favor of the plan at H-GAC's transportation police council meeting in 2012.

Joe Perino, president of the Copperfield Coalition, said the organization is happy to see this project nearing completion.

"We thought this should have been done a long time ago," he said. "We have been very supportive of this. Even though this inconveniences some of the traffic from turning (left), it has greatly reduced the occurrence of suicide lane accidents."

In 2008, there were 788 reported accidents on that segment of FM 1960 with many of those attributed to the suicide lanes.

By 2010, the accident rate increase to 895 vehicle accidents on that same stretch of roadway.

"I think TxDOT realizes that safety is number one, and that they've become more sensitive to listening to what the community needs," Perino said.